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Fighter: Meek Mill

Trainer: Rick Ross (Maybach Music Group, Warner Bros.)

Cut Men: Jahlil Beats, KeY Wane, All Star, Cardiak, Tommy Brown, Boi-1da, Tone the Beat Bully, The Black Metaphor, Lee Major, Kane Beatz, Ashanti Floyd, DJ Infamous, The Agency, Travis Sayles, Kenoe, Got Koke, The Renegades

Weight Class: Rising Star, Hood Star

Notable Fire: Real N***** Come First, Dreams And Nightmares, In God We Trust, Maybach Curtains (Feat. John Legend, Nas & Rick Ross), Amen (Feat Drake), Burn (Feat. Big Sean)

Notable Trash: Rich & Famous (Feat. Louie V), Freak Show (Feat. 2 Chainz & Sam Sneak)

Tale of the Tape: Expectations are a funny thing. Regardless of how good something may appear to be, the public’s perception of it may hinge heavily, or in some instances entirely, on the expectations attached to it from the beginning.

For instance, the 2004 L.A. Lakers came within three wins of a championship. However, history views that squad as a colossal failure because that team didn’t win a title with Shaq & Kobe in their primes, Karl Malone & Gary Payton as free agent acquisitions and Phil Jackson patrolling the sidelines. Taking the Lakers example a step further, expectations are what got Mike Brown fired on Friday. So after Meek Mill dropped his fire-filled mixtape Dreamchasers, his first with MMG (hosted by DJ Drama), in August 2011, expectations for his debut album were sky high. Unfortunately, fans were forced to wait longer than expected on an album, and to hold them over, Meek dropped Dreamchasers 2 in May of this year.

With the wait now over, Meek Mill looked to cement his place in the hierarchy of today’s rap landscape with Dreams & Nightmares. Milli, like many artists, came with pure heat right from the start. His intro “Dreams and Nightmares” seemingly had everyone buzzing, even a week before the album dropped. “I did it without an album/I did shit with Mariah/Lil nigga, I’m on fire/Icy as a hockey rink, Philly nigga, I’m Flyer” (Confession: Sports references in your bars will get you a long way on this website).

Meek followed up that impressive effort with the very tough “In God We Trust”, produced by Black Metaphor. This track is about everything that goes down in the dope game, including “real niggas” snitching on one another “for the love of the money”— and Meek absolutely takes you there, particularly at the top of the second verse.

“A lot of niggas act Tony-like/Told them D’s everything you heard, but that’s your homie, right?/But he got killers lurking outside at your home tonight/And they gon hit the crib & kill the kids, oh that’s Kony, right?/Oh that’s Kony-like/Everybody bleed/Cuz he come home 2060, Christmas Eve”.

Grimy, gritty, gutter; this is Meek MIll at his very best. We see this again at the end of the album with the song “Real N***** Come First”. Although it’s buried all the way down at track 14, it is certainly one of the highlights of the project.

Sidebar: When trying to judge the merit and authenticity of a song or an album, I often ask myself, “Does the artist ‘take me there?” Regardless if it’s via lyrical illustration or by musical ambiance, if the answer is yes, then you’ve got something.

Much of Dreams & Nightmares consists of Meek recounting his story and his rise to the top. He also touches on the loss of friends on his path to success. Meek also revisits the story of “Tony”, a hood fable Meek first introduced on Dreamchasers. While part 2 was solid and has a better beat behind it, Meek tells a better story on the original version.

Given the aggression he uses when describing tales of gunplay and the dope game in Killadelphia, Pistolvania, it becomes increasingly more difficult to buy into Meek’s softer side. His notorious sound, which centers around a life of crime in the streets, is the reason why he was placed in the Hood Star weight class. Perhaps it was a label decision, but Milli attempts to cater to the ladies on “Rich & Famous”, and fails miserably. Also, the bonus track “Freak Show”, was a complete swing-and-a-miss attempt at a club hit. Alas, “Amen” is really the only club-friendly song on the album, however if you’re interested in songs that go hard in the whip, Dreams & Nightmares should suit you well.

Fight Night: Winner by Eleventh Round TKO

This is a strong major label debut performance from Meek Mill, however high expectations seem to burden this project and absorbed its impact a bit. Dreams & Nightmares not only contains “Amen”, but it also carries “Burn” as a bonus track. Both of these songs are Dreamchasers 2 retreads, and without them this album, while containing several good songs, is lacking heavy hitters. In fact, all of Meek Mill’s biggest hits came from his last two mixtapes. It seems unlikely that this album will produce a record that will duplicate the success of “Amen”, “Burn”, “I’ma Boss”, “House Party”, or “Work“, all of which were absolute monsters.

Sidebar: “Young & Gettin’ It” featuring Kirko Bangz is the album’s “third” single, and while the beat is hot, this song doesn’t quite have the firepower of the aforementioned mixtape bangers.

Lyrically, Meek Mill was consistent with his older works on this record, but he is still not as technically proficient on the mic as many of his contemporaries. Nas’ verse on “Maybach Curtains” features the lyrics, “My liquid money’s a hypnotist to your Mrs./Lay back like I’m in the chair of a dentist/Nasir relentless/A freak like Prince is/Mystique like Sade/Soon as I enter, people point and see my anointment”. While there’s no shame in being outshined by one of the all-time greats, it just goes to show how far Meek Mill needs to come with his wordplay.

Through no fault of his own, the stories Meek Mill presents to listeners on this album are largely unoriginal. We already know all about violence in the streets and the price of the dope game. While it’s okay for him to present some of this in a traditional manner, it’s up to the artist to deliver their message in a captivating fashion. This is where Meek Mill could separate himself from the pack of rap’s rising stars in the future (Tony Story Pt. 2 notwithstanding).

It’s going to take some work for Meek Mill to fully recapture the magic of his last two mixtapes, but if he saves some of his hotter records for his next album, there’s little doubt he’ll be living up to everyone’s expectations.